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Buying A House? Lets be REAL

DISCLAIMER: Everything stated in this post is opinionated and experienced by me and relates to purchasing houses in Australia. Please take no offence in difference of opinion.

Hi guys I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I wanted to talk about something important.. buying a house. Now this topic can either be full of horrors or be completely sugar coated. Lets be honest we have all heard elder people say “save for your future”, “stop spending your money on stupid stuff, buy a house” etc, but is buying a house really beneficial ? or is it just a mind set that has been stamped into our minds?

If you had asked me when I was 18, if I would buy a house before I was 20 years old I probably would be laughing my ass off because no way? huh. I am a shopaholic, plain and simple, so how did I end up buying a house? well it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies, not everything fell into place, some pieces didn’t fit and some we had to alter but I think thats the most important thing to understand, buying a house is unpredictable. I am not scaring anyone off buying a house or nor am I going to sugar coat it. I know if I was thinking of buying a house and I read this post before hand I would have a realistic mind set about it.

I bought my house at the age of 19 with my sister, we bit more than we could chew and we went over our budget. So pretty much everything I’m writing I’ve experienced.

You guys know I’m real, everything I write or post about is real. sooo… lets get started.

SAVE SAVE SAVE! save money as much as you can! The best way to simplify it is, save 5% of the house you want that is in your set budget. Plus remember that there is additional costs such as your solicitor, stamp duty etc. I can’t tell you exactly how much that would be because every house alters for the additional fees. So… SAVE SAVE SAVE!

Buying a house means shopping! Always shop before you decide on the one you want. The best tip I have is buy to sell, by that I mean buy a house which you know will sell well enough when you want to sell it eventually. It doesn’t mean you have to sell it but life is so unpredictable, you might need to downgrade or upgrade. So in Canberra buying in suburbs that is close to the major town centres is always a winner. The older houses in Canberra do have bigger lands so if you like gardening etc its best to find an older house (Plus you can renovate and upgrade your own house). If you like less maintenance houses the newer ones have less space and less maintenance to worry about. I am only scratching the surface but that’s really the basics.

Everyone has their own interpretation when purchasing a house so when doing so, you need to get the one you know you’ll love. When we decided we wanted to buy a house and we were approved for the loan, we went to about 15+ open houses, each one was different and had a different vibe (yes I’m all about the vibezz) Until the house that we ended up purchasing. I wanted to go to the open house but my sister didn’t want to, though.. I convinced her, we were about 30 mins to early to the open house so we just went and got a coffee while we waited.

As we walked into the beautifully white titled house, something just clicked. I knew that this was the house I wanted, no matter what thats the house. So that day we put the offer and it was accepted. Now that sounds lovely doesn’t? Well… the process after was a bit rough, we had issues we the real estate from both sides and the contracts etc. After a couple of months things were going up, down and sideways, One of the scariest things was the fact that we ended up short a few thousand dollars just 24 hours before settlement. But I had my sister with me so we dealt with everything together. Remember that there is always a way, so please have hope!

Truthfully, buying a house can be so straining, it’s definitely a great experience because the more you do it the better you get at it, even if you just want to buy once. I know people who talk about buying a house like you are going and buying a loaf of bread. Evidently, yes it is like going and buying a loaf of bread. If that bloody loaf of bread needs a solicitor and a hundred other things! Ok but really jokes aside, Buying a house isn’t all rainbows and unicorns nor does it have to be a horror show either. Just like everything it’s how you interoperate your experience. I mean don’t get me wrong, it got to the point at one stage where we couldn’t even afford food, it was so upsetting. I would have to tell my friends that I was busy or sick to cover up the shame of actually not having any money. I remember crying because I was struggling so much. I don’t think we were ever at our lowest financially than that period of time. I am glad I went through that as a 19 year old because it helped me understand the importance of gratitude, being grateful and not taking anything for granted. It wasn’t easy and everyone will encounter purchasing a house differently.

I don’t know even know if anyone is really ready at a certain time, you just have to kind of go for it. I had no idea anything about houses at the age of 19 years old but if I can do it then, you can do it. While all my friends were going out, traveling, spending money like there was no tomorrow, I was buying bloody toilet brush (pretty much anything we needed for the house) and reviewing every document. We make our own choices in life. I had the choice to either buy a brand new car, travel or invest my money, mine was to buy a house with my sister and honestly I wouldn’t have had it any other way, all the hardships and struggles have led to the person I am now. I am not scared of change, I’m not scared of challenging myself, for now I’ll be traveling this year, so everything in it’s time.

In the next couple of years I’d like to invest my money again. There is mixed opinions and if you are someone that wants to invest your money and buy a house then you do that! if you think it’s a burden that’s ok!!! There is no “one size fits all” for life. For me, I’m proud of myself and my sister, but more so for my sister because during all this, it was her second house. She had gone through all of this by herself for her investment property she bought at the age of 21. But you know what? there is a certain proudness you feel when you finally sit down and just look… and I mean really look at the house you have bought and yes, there was struggles and you will be in debt but it is all worth it.

Remember your life is only good as your mind set, so just do what you want.